On June 20, Minister of Employment and Social Development Jason Kenney announced a raft of changes to the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), including a moratorium (now lifted) on the hiring of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in the food services sector. The TFWP program has attracted controversy since at least 2006, but it picked up recently with CBC reports that a MacDonald’s restaurant in Victoria was favoring temporary foreign workers over Canadians when hiring or allocating hours to staff.
Employment and labour
Inside this issue:
Precarious temp agency work requires public policy attention by Andrew Longhurst
Don't believe the (LNG) hype by Marc Lee
The disconnect between economic growth and teachers' wages by Iglika Ivanova
What are the net benefits of the Northern Gateway? by Marvin Shaffer
New living wage reports force us to look at child poverty in the city by Iglika Ivanova
The good life, the green life
OTTAWA— At a time when youth unemployment is high and many university students are struggling to find jobs or co-op placements, the federal government has significantly cut the number of students it hires, says a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The report, by CCPA Research Associate Kayle Hatt, finds summer hiring of students in the federal public service has declined by more than a third (36%) since 2009 and non-summer hiring of students has declined an average of 23%.
At a time when youth unemployment is high and many university students are struggling to find jobs or co-op placements, the federal government has significantly cut the number of students it hires. New data, presented here for the first time, demonstrates that summer hiring of students in the federal public service has declined by more than a third (36%) from 10,894 in summer 2009 to under 7,000 in the last two summers. Non-summer hiring of students has declined an average of 23%.
Imagine you just got a new job. But instead of a permanent job for an indefinite period of time, you are told that this near-minimum wage job will last four weeks, but could end at any point without notice, and the exact hours per week are to be determined. Your assignment might be extended, but maybe not, making it difficult to pursue other employment or to juggle family responsibilities. It’s unclear who your actual employer is—the firm supervising you, or the agency that sent you there. In fact, you’re not sure who is legally responsible for respecting your workplace rights.
(This article was first published by Rabble.ca as part of the Up! Canadian Labour Rising series.)
(Vancouver) A report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives examines the rise of temporary agency work in British Columbia, and explores the experiences of temporary agency workers. The report examines the realities of low wages, insufficient hours, unequal treatment and lack of protection under employment standards legislation.
Last week, I was in Winnipeg and elsewhere in southern Manitoba for a roundtable and a series of field visits. Representing the Green Economy Network [GEN] --- a national alliance of civil society organizations committed to transforming our economy in response to environmental challenges, notably climate change --- I was blown away by what I saw and experienced. Here’s why.
Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) has become a hot potato for the federal government, which is frantically attempting to quell widespread outrage sparked by revelations of Canadians fired to be replaced by cheaper, more vulnerable and thus more compliant migrants, abusive working conditions, illegal fees charged to foreign job-seekers, and the importation of low-skilled workers while unemployment remains unacceptably high.